The French forest is at the forefront of the dual climate and biodiversity crises. And with it, the National Forestry Office (ONF), one of the main bodies responsible for its preservation. At the request of citizens consulted in 2023, the Court of Auditors examined the capacity of this public institution to meet the challenge of the ecological transition. Created in 1964, the main mission of the ONF is the sustainable management of public forests, which represent a quarter of the French forest area, the remaining three quarters being managed by private owners.
In its report, published on Thursday 19 September, the financial jurisdiction first recalls how vulnerable forest areas are today: they are suffering from mass extinction, linked to repeated droughts and the proliferation of pests, and increasingly frequent and intense fires. These are direct consequences of global warming that have repercussions on the organisation, missions and finances of the ONF.
Among the most visible effects, the ONF estimated that at the end of 2021, some 50,000 hectares were affected, an area 30% more than in 2019. These areas will have to be renewed, but the context is particularly uncertain: will the species planted today be adapted to the climate of 2050 or 2100? Will the corresponding plants be available? Can excessively abundant ungulate populations, which undermine planting and regeneration efforts, be controlled?
Tree growth slows down
By 2050, the ONF predicts that the effort to reconstitute
The populations that are dying (or likely to die) in national forests will have almost doubled, from 12,000 to 21,000 hectares per year. The establishment also estimates that half of these populations will have to be replenished through plantations, compared with only a quarter at present, and that the remainder will be renewed by allowing the forest to regenerate naturally.
Another direct impact of global warming is the slowdown in tree growth: the biological production of French public forests decreased by 6.5% between 2005 and 2021, leading to a drop in the volume of exploitable wood. Since 2017, the volumes put up for sale have fallen by 19% in state forests and by 4% in other forests, mostly owned by communities.
These events will affect the ONF’s resources, while 40% of its
Turnover comes from revenues linked to state timber sales, and renovation costs are expected to increase substantially. “The ecological transition calls into question the historical principle that “wood pays for the forest””the Court of Auditors points out.
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